Canadian Visa Rule Changes to Benefit Indian Students

The Canadian immigration authority, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has informed that students from India and other three Asian countries will get faster visas to study in Canada as they have introduced major changes in the visa procedure to reduce the processing time for visas. The move by Canadian authorities comes at a time when the US and UK governments have decided to exclude Indian students from easier visa norms.

In the second week of June, the IRCC said in a statement that it is making many changes to promote Canada as a choice of destination for international students who are seeking quality overseas education by working on efficient ways to speed up the visa application process. According to the official figures by the Press Trust of India, more than 100,000 students from India study in different universities in Canada and education is supposed to be the key area of collaboration between India and Canada.

IRCC has also announced Student Direct Stream (SDS) program which is available for students from India, China, Philippines and Vietnam who are applying for a study permit to further their education in Canada. The statement further highlighted that students from these countries who demonstrate upfront that they have the language skills and financial resources to academically succeed in Canada will surely benefit from the faster visa processing.

While there are similar programmes from the past few years for students applying from these countries, the new program will aim at angling the students together into a single program to ensure consistency, the statement said. The IRCC is also planning to include students from Senegal to include in the program as a way to attract more students who are speaking French to Canada.

The SDS will ensure that the students will meet additional requirements that are a bit stricter that the regular requirements to get a study permit and will allow them to meet additional levels in a particular language. Students who do not have the additional information required for SDS can apply through the regular study permit application process.

However, students applying through SDS will have additional benefit of the Express Entry system which will ensure that they will be placed well after completing their education and can even continue their path to get a Canadian citizenship and permanent residence.